Meizu M2 Note goes on pre-order: get it for less than $160

The pre-sale ends on July 5th, and that's when one should expect the Meizu M2 Note to start shipping to customers.

Great value for the money

Meizu has cut some corners to make the Meizu M2 Note more affordable than the original M1 Note. First and most noticeable is the change in graphics processors: the M2 Note features the Mali-T720 MP3 edition running at up to 450MHz (an 8-cluster GPU by ARM), while the original M1 Note features the Mali-T760, a 16-cluster graphics chip with a maximum clock speed of 700MHz and much higher performance capabilities. The new CPU is also clocked at up to 1.3GHz, while the earlier one could reach 1.7GHz. Another subtle change is in the ISP that is also cut to support only 3Gbps of bandwidth, compared with 4Gbps ISP in the original.

Those are, however, fairly minor details that should not slow down the phone too much, and allow Meizu to go at that super low price point. Currently, rivals to the Meizu M2 Note in the same form factor include the Lenovo K3 Note, another 5.5-inch 1080p phone with a great overall performance.

• Buy Meizu M2 Note for $159.89 at GearBest (pre-order link)